Life is full of surprises and challenges. This is the shortest description possible of Bulgarian Todor Lazarov’s path – from a small village in the Blagoevgrad region to the film set of some of Hollywood’s top productions. Todor’s goal has never been to become a movie stuntman, despite the fact that film sets have been his second home for 20 years now. His dream was to devote entirely to sports and he received the full support of his parents for that. He came to Sofia at the age of 19, hoping to bring joy to his father by becoming a member of his favorite CSKA football team. Instead, a friend took him to a sambo practice class. This sport turned into Todor’s passion within seconds and he even reached the national team. Later on he also became a coach. Every time when he is in Bulgaria, he finds the time to visit the gym and have a chat with the kids training there. He says that a meeting with them restores his optimism despite all the troubles that one goes through. We will stand up and move on, or at least the next generation will do so.

Another friend took Todor to a film set for the first time. During the shooting of the first movie that he participated in with a small part the young man realized that this would be his life from that moment on. Although his job is a great challenge for his body, the man states that he simply couldn’t live without stunts. He often seeks adrenaline in ever newer challenges, despite the fact that usually his stunts take a few days to be shot. That was what made him accept the invitation of CEO of Nu Boyana Film Studios Yariv Lerner to become part of the stuntman training academy, unveiled with the studio. A total of 35 people are trained there today, but Lazarov says that this job cannot be learnt indoors. It all happens throughout the shooting process, no matter the risks. At one point you just get used to it and the ability to do what’s impossible becomes part of you. Travelling also turns into this everyday thing, as often the movie is being shot in several countries or on several continents simultaneously. In the course of two decades Todor has visited hundreds of countries across all continents – he has participated in movie making in Columbia, Malaysia, India, New Zealand, USA and across numerous European states as well. The man has taken part in over 60 movies: Troy, The Expendables, The Chronicles of Narnia etc. And their number has been on the rise. Over the rare moments when he is not travelling, Todor comes back to Bulgaria to help both the kids in the sambo hall and also elderly and sick people via his Thank You Foundation. What made him establish it and what are the goals of the foundation?

“My motivation came due to the fact that the state was unable to assist many ill and elderly people in distress,” Todor Lazarov says. “I had been trying to help for many years before, but at one point I decided I could do more. That was why I established the foundation with the idea to meet with and help people in distress. I created this phone app named Thank You. There are many people in Bulgaria, willing to help, but those have suffered numerous lies. As we know, “people in need” often take advantage of good-hearted folks. My app aims precisely at avoiding any manipulation methods. Whenever you lie to a person, he or she will find it hard to trust you again. My goal is to assist anyone willing to help to do that personally, giving directly to the other man in need, instead of using different slogans for agitation,” Todor Lazarov says in conclusion.

Written by: Zhivko Stanchev